Henderson sidelined after surgery
Liverpool, Feb 26: Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson faces a long spell on the sidelines after undergoing an operation on the groin injury he sustained in last weekend’s Merseyside derby loss against Everton. Liverpool has not put a timescale on the midfielder’s recovery but said he will be out until at least April in another blow to its fading Premier League title defense. “Henderson has successfully had a corrective procedure carried out on the adductor injury,” Liverpool said in a statement on Friday. “He will begin a rehabilitation program immediately.” Liverpool is in sixth place, 19 points behind leader Manchester City but the six-time European champions remain in the Champions League. Henderson, who has been playing as an emergency center back, joins a lengthy injury list. The three senior central defenders, Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, have all had their seasons ended prematurely while backup Fabinho is still out, having played just one of the last seven matches because of a muscle injury. (AP)
Gurjoat misses out on finals
Cairo, Feb 26: Indian shooter Gurjoat Khangura narrowly missed out on a chance to advance to the finals of the men’s skeet competition in the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here, as he finished 10th in the qualification round. Despite two solid final qualification rounds of 24 and 25, Gurjoat’s score added up to 119 at the end of five rounds, giving him a credible 10th place finish. Four shooters were tied at 120, after which Ukranian Mikola Milchev won a shoot-off to bag the sixth and final qualifying spot and eventually going on to win the competition. Milchev shot 55 in the final to finish ahead of Dane Jesper Hansen who shot 52. Hansen was the top qualifier with a score of 121. Rashid Hamad of Qatar won the bronze. The other Indian men in the fray, Mairaj Khan and Angad Bajwa, shot identical scores of 113 to finish in 28th and 30th respectively. In the women’s skeet competition, Parinaaz Dhaliwal was the best Indian finisher, shooting 110 for a 16th-place finish. (PTI)
Lahiri lies T-37 in opening round of Puerto Rico Open
Rio Grande (Puerto Rico), Feb 26: Star Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded a bitter-sweet two-under 70 in the first round to be placed tied 37th at the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open here. Lahiri, returning to action after three weeks, opened with a hat-trick of birdies from second to fourth and closed the day with a superb eagle, but in between had four bogeys between 10th and 17th. Lahiri’s senior colleague, Arjun Atwal, who is witnessing action for the first time in four months, scored one-under 71 to be placed tied 52nd. Daniel Chopra, who played with Lahiri, shot two-over 74 and was T-97. The leader was Tommy Gainey, who birdied five of the last seven holes for a seven-under 65. (Agencies)